Mesmerizing Animation Identifies London's Bike Share Hotspots

Since it was introduced in 2010, the London bike share program has facilitated more than five million two-wheeled journeys throughout the city. It's amazing what can be accomplished with 8,000 bikes and 570 stations!

Not every station is used equally, however. At least, that's the implication of a new analysis of rider data, performed by Jo Wood, a professor of visual analytics at the City University of London.

The video, which has inspired comparisons to the movie Tron, shows five million trips made using the program's share bikes, mapped across time. As the visualization moves forward, less popular routes begin to fade and more popular ones—like those around Hyde Park and to and from King's Cross Street—become more dense, brighter, and more active.

Of course, it's something that must be seen to be understood. That's just the point: Visualizations such as this help city planners make better informed decisions about the program, eventually leading to a more robust, more efficient, service for cycling citizens.